Projectkin Live: The View from Kathy's Corner

Thank you, Kyla Bayang, Linda Teather, Marian Beaman, Marci KR, Ann Larkham, Jim the Historian, Linda Stufflebean, MamaCarole, Bill Moore, and so many more of you for joining us today. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from the cold of winter in the north of Scotland to the heat of summer in the outback of Australia. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this community together. Did I miss you? Add your thoughts in the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Kathy’s Corner: Postcards from my hand to yoursWhat a fun conversation today as Kathy Stone joined me this morning for a preview of what she has planned for this week’s Kathy’s Corner event. This week’s program is part two as a follow-up to her January program focused on Postcards. The topic: “Postcards Part 2: How to Organize and Manage the Collection.”As much as we love our postcards, the truth is that many commercial cards are published with paper that can damage your precious photos, letters, and other materials. Here’s where you need the insight of an expert. As Kathy says, you should use three simple words to guide you on what to toss, digitize, dispose of, or keep. Her three guiding words answer this question: “Ask yourself whether you want your descendants to…”:* See (digitizing the piece is enough)* Have (keep the original object)* Know (share the information, but the object itself isn’t necessary.) In our conversation, we referenced December’s special program, which featured several speakers discussing postcards in their collections. Among them were Jayme Blenkarn and Paula Collins. Jayme reminded us that a collector of postcards is a deltiologist. Since early this year, Paula has initiated a series of posts highlighting another postcard from her collection, making it a fun exploration. If you haven’t registered already, please do now. These programs are held via Zoom, and while they’re free, you will need to register to get your personal link: 🤠 Ride Along Partners in RootsTech! With just about ten days of RootsTech news ahead now, we also touched on what’s coming this week and Projectkin’s partnership with Geneabloggers in RideAlongPartners.org. The calendar of coming events is not to be missed. You’ll find not only livestreams most every day this week, but there’s also a special event with Rhonda Lauritzen of Evalogue.life. It’s a special preview of a talk she’ll be doing at RootsTech, but won’t be recorded there. We’ll skip over blogger beads, DIY and BUY swag, and other goodies you’ll find at RideAlongPartners.org, but I didn’t want to miss a reference to Relatives at RootsTech. This fun program, available only during the conference, gives us a way to connect with each other through our shared ancestors. You need to first be registered as attending (online or on-site) the conference, then visit: From there, you’ll see how many of your relatives are already registered to attend, and when you tap through, you can see the closest 300 and learn how you’re connected, even chat with them using the FamilySearch chat system. Kyla Bayang and Bill Moore had a fun Livestream program late last week focused on “Cousin Hunting” with the program. Good luck! You’ll find either of us in the system, but tap the far right of the interface and search for…* Barbara at Projectkin * Katharine Anne Rutherford PrattAbout Kathy StoneI often talk about Kathy as the “cornerstone” of Projectkin. It’s not just a fun play on words. Kathy was the first to believe in the idea for Projectkin and helped our nascent little community find traction with this Kathy’s Corner series. Our first episode was actually the last event hosted by my startup, Ponga. 🥹 That was nearly three years ago now, just after RootsTech 2023. Her commitment to the physical artifacts of family history never ceases to amaze and inspire me. Learn more about what Kathy is doing today at her own publication: As Projectkin, we’re here to help families tell their stories in any form. I feel strongly that our collections of photos and other artifacts are key to our memories and, in turn, our stories. Do you have friends or family members who may benefit from this? Please share our work and invite them to join us: Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe